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'I'm still alive' – displaced residents try to stay positive following fire

“I'm sorry. We can't save this building.”

At that moment, speaking with a firefighter at the scene of Tuesday's devastating Rockhill apartment blaze, Malaiya Kolola knew she'd lost everything.

“I just re-started my life,” said Kolola, who moved into the transitional housing unit – run by the YWCA NWT – not even a year ago.

After a brief exchange with a firefighter early Tuesday morning, Malaiya Kolola knew she'd lost everything. Kolola lived on the third-floor of Rockhill Apartments – which was gutted after an early morning fire ripped through it - but she isn't losing hope in the face of tragedy. “I'm still alive, so I can re-build (my life),” she said. “If I did it once, I can do it again.”
Brendan Burke/NNSL photo.

“I ran away here and re-started my life,” a teary-eyed Kolola told Yellowknifer Tuesday morning.

Kolola, who spoke with Yellowknifer at the Multiplex's gym – a temporarily space for the up to 33 families displaced by the blaze – said she's received “a lot of support,” in the wake of the fire.

“When we first came here, we were cold and hunger. Now we're warm and fed. There's good people around,” she said.

Koloa is choosing to remain optimistic in the face of tragedy.

“I'm still alive, so I can re-build (my life),” she said. “If I did it once, I can do it again.”

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, and her three children, were also forced from their third-floor apartment unit and into the Multiplex early Tuesday.

“It was unexpected and scary for my kids,” she said.

The woman said she awoke to the sound of alarms, before waking up her three small children and dressing them as quickly as she could.

“But we're here now. We're safe,” she added.

Lyda Fuller, executive director of the YWCA NWT, was on hand at the Multiplex.

“We have a lot of children here, and everybody seems pretty calm,” said Fuller.

“People have said to me they're so encouraged by the response from the community – that the community is rallying, and that they feel like they won't be forgotten about,” said Fuller.

Fuller said the YWCA NWT rents private units in Northview buildings across the city. “We're hoping to house people in some of those units at least in the intermediate term,” said Fuller.

Just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, a representative from Northview Apartments confirmed all the families displaced in the fire had been re-housed in private units owned by the development company.

The YWCA later clarified  that 21 families were relocated into Northview properties while 12 have made alternative arrangements with friends or family.

But as Fuller told Yellowknifer, temporary housing is only part of the uphill battle ahead.

“People have lost everything and they likely don't have tenant's insurance. But through community donations we'll provide furniture for people so that when we do relocated them they can have some basic possessions,” she said.

Fuller noted the the YWCA NWT had extended its lease on the Rockhill building for another 10 years just this summer.

Staff was also on hand to provide emergency applications for income assistance, said Fuller.

“We will help people rebuild,” she said.

YWCA NWT officials are asking for online – not physical – donations at this time. Donations can be submitted to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/ywcanwt/.

A number of city businesses have rallied behind the uprooted families, including Yellowknife CO-OP and DC Moving, who've offered donations to those affected by Tuesday's blaze.

According to Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green, a process has started to set up a drop-off spot where Yellowknifers can donate furniture and other household necessities.

“All families still need furniture and essentials,” tweeted Green.

Until then, Koloa said she'll be rebuilding her life, “one step at a time.”